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Ron Stoppable
Ron Stoppable is the deuteragonist of the animated series Kim Possible. He is the lifelong best friend, faithful sidekick, and eventual boyfriend of the show's titular protagonist, Kim Possible. During the show, which covers the pair's three years of high school, Ron is depicted as an eccentric student who serves as a bumbling sidekick, providing much of the show's comic relief, but also an important foil to Kim's competitive and image-conscious personality. Background Physical Appearance Ron is of medium height and lanky; his round face has a wide mouth, a pointy nose, freckles on his cheeks, brown eyes, and messy blond hair. Ron states in the Season 2 episode "The Ron Factor" that his zodiac sign is a Virgo. Personality Personality-wise, Ron is the polar opposite of Kim. Like Shego, he displays a lack of ambition and a propensity for sarcasm toward villains such as Drakken. He reacts differently from Kim in almost every situation, excels at things that she has difficulties with, and vice-versa, and sees the world in a different way. He is probably also the most diverse character in the franchise, and is the character who has displayed the most contradictions/contrasts in terms of personality and capability throughout the franchise. He also tends to overreact to change, even when they are minor. For most of the franchise, Ron's character consists of three primary teen comedy/drama stereotypes: *A "type B" friend to a "type A" character *A "bumbling sidekick" *A "high school underdog" Type B personality As a type B, Ron is primarily cheerful and upbeat, is highly resistant to most forms of peer pressure, and is largely unconcerned with appearance and fads, which he considers to be shallow and transitory. Because of this, Ron frequently serves as a counterbalance to Kim's type A personality, often encouraging her to take a step back in episodes where her competitive nature goes into overdrive, and helping her to get things in perspective when she frets over "teen issues" such as the "food chain" and how others think of her. Kim herself often performs a similar function for Ron by motivating him, encouraging him to participate in some areas, and attempting to dampen down his enthusiasm in others. Ron's personality is defined by ego but not in such an obvious way as type A Kim. He tends to become fixated with ideas, objects, and concepts that cannot be dislodged from his mind, even after they have proven to be flawed. During early episodes this usually took the form of Ron disagreeing with Kim over the intentions of a villain: for example, believing that Drakken wanted to "steal Christmas", or that Señor Senior, Sr. intended to create a global shortage of miniature corn dogs, and primarily served as dialogue during "covert entry" scenes. However, as Ron's personality developed with the franchise, this tendency became more pronounced. It was most evident in later episodes such as "Mad Dogs and Aliens" and "Grande Size Me". In the former, Ron obsesses over the fact that Jim and Tim have replaced him as team mascot. He doesn't think they can live up to his legacy and takes it too personally, to the point where he tries to become their coach. In the latter, Ron refuses to believe that eating junk food can cause health and fitness problems. He tries to disprove it by eating nothing but Bueno Nacho meals (a play on the real world documentary Super Size Me). As a result, when his clothes start becoming tight he attributes it to shrinkage in the laundry and he attributes his shortness of breath to lack of clean air. However, when he grows in height he says it's the diet he's on, not realizing that his falling into Henchco's Titan vat was the reason. Ron has on occasion expressed his usually hidden arrogance, which typically results from a bout of self-confidence combined with his tendency to go overboard with things. Kim once commented that Ron is "prone to big-headiness." The statement came as a result of the sudden ego boost Ron received from learning that Global Justice wished to study him over Kim because they believed that he was the reason for Team Possible's success. Ron has also displayed considerable bouts of jealousy throughout the show, especially when he feels that he does not have Kim's undivided attention. However, all of Ron's Kim-centered jealousy is entirely restricted to the instance of Kim paying attention to others over him. He has never expressed envy over her abilities, instead offering her encouragement in the field and showing himself to be a loyal friend and later boyfriend. Another effect of this personality type is that Ron tends to doubt himself more often than not, making himself subservient to Kim. It is highly probable that his behavior patterns have been influenced by Kim's frequently overbearing and hyper competitive Type A tendencies, causing him to back down as a trained response because he knows that Kim does not like to lose. Because he values Kim more than anything, Ron is willing to sacrifice anything for her, including his own potential for greatness. All of these self-imposed restrictions are lost, however, when Ron becomes his alter ego, Zorpox. Because he is evil, Zorpox does not care about hurting Kim's feelings and therefore has no problem unleashing his full potential. Strangely, he seems to be smarter when evil as he made a mashed potato launcher out of cafeteria items that scattered the potato all over the room. The first time he was transformed, Zorpox was able to convert his tricycle into a plasma catapult, as well as create not one, but two doomsday devices in only a few hours. In "Stop Team Go", he demonstrated that Ron is a much more capable fighter than he normally appears, incapacitating a swarm of about thirty Wegos in under ten seconds. Bumbling sidekick As a "bumbling sidekick", Ron is typically portrayed as being extremely loyal but also clumsy and lacking in bravery. He tends to "trip over his own feet" in most episodes, often in comical or socially embarrassing ways, and during missions it is common for him to comically fail to do something that Kim has done flawlessly—for example, he might ski backwards down a mountain and collide with a tree just after Kim has successfully navigated the slope. He also loses his pants often on missions. A regular running gag in the series is that Ron rarely receives any recognition for his actions helping Kim, and other characters have a hard time remembering his name, even if they've met him multiple times; Dr. Drakken has referred to him as "that guy," "the boy who always loses his pants" and most notably, "the buffoon." The only villain to consistently remember Ron's name is his archenemy, Monkey Fist. This has actually earned Ron's respect, as he tells Monkey Fist in the episode "Overdue". Ron's clumsiness was very pronounced in early episodes, often resulting in him endangering himself or the mission, and forcing Kim to stop whatever she was currently doing to save him. However, as the series has progressed his skills have become more proficient and he has required rescuing much less frequently. In later episodes, much of his clumsiness primarily serves as comic relief and is portrayed as awkwardness rather than incompetence; he is often shown performing feats of physical skill and dexterity alongside Kim, albeit in an awkward and slightly panicked manner in contrast to Kim's usually graceful and deliberate performance. The show's creators have stated that Ron's performance during action sequences was originally supposed to be based on Jackie Chan, performing physical feats in an uncertain and improvised, but ultimately effective, manner. Although Ron's clumsiness has caused problems, for example, allowing villains to escape, it also often works in his favor, allowing him to accomplish things through clumsiness that neither he nor Kim were able to do through pure skill (see The Ron Factor). According to Wade, this may be a quantifiable ability that Ron possesses, though the in-universe international espionage organization Global Justice has investigated this possibility and ruled it false. Another long-running trait of Ron's is his sizable list of phobias. His fear of monkeys is frequently mentioned, and he has also been shown to be pathologically fearful of insects; mechanical horses, triggered by an accident with a coin-operated horse ride in which he lost 2 baby teeth; garden gnomes, as a result of a gnome-related tricycle accident; and many other things. Often, episodes show him panicking on missions when confronted by anything threatening or dangerous. He also had a tendency to be paranoid in some cases, an end result of his childhood phobias and bad experiences. Despite his fears, Ron usually manages to come through in the end, and by the end of the series Ron has dealt with all of them at least once, and overcome them, again, most notably his fear of monkeys. Kim's cousin Joss remarks that Ron's actions in loyally following Kim into danger despite being afraid of practically everything is a mark of true bravery. It is one of the show's most well known running gags for Ron to lose his pants or even get unwittingly stripped down to his boxer shorts in some comical way. In Season 2, he states that this has happened so often that he is no longer embarrassed about it. However, in Season 4, he admits that he is still perturbed by the fact that this continues to happen even when he is a high school senior. Later that same season in the episode "Clean Slate", Kim gives Ron a titanium-enforced belt as a "half-iversary" present, as it had been six months since they started dating, to help with "the pants thing" as it came to be known; Ron denies that he has a problem until a food cart passes him, ripping off his pants. He then admits his problem. Later in that episode, Ron took the belt off and accidentally dropped his pants yet again, which triggered in Kim a flashback of virtually all of the times Ron lost his pants, which somewhat ironically finished healing the amnesia Kim had for most of the episode. After the loss of his pants, Ron sometimes tends to make sarcastic comments about it, such as stating it happens "even in Japan" while at the Yamanouchi ninja school. High school underdog Alongside his general clumsiness, Ron does not excel in school and often appears to have difficulty grasping simple facts or concepts, even if they are spelled out to him. This is attributed to the fact he has a limited understanding of the topic or the way in which it is being discussed or that he usually does not pay attention. Due to the nature of Ron's role within the series, it is not always clear when this is part of his permanent persona, and when it is intended purely as comic relief. Ron's problems are accentuated by his overall lack of focus, and by a tendency towards a laziness which, at its most extreme, included expecting his lab partner to do all of the work on the grounds that their natural motivation to succeed would compel them to pick up his slack. Ironically, while it is a common gag for Ron to fail to understand everyday words or euphemisms, such as the phrase "fraternal twins", Ron demonstrates a slightly more advanced vocabulary than other characters on the franchise, often using longer words than a person of his age might otherwise use, and maintaining more controlled style of speech throughout the series as well as reflecting complex and unusual lines of thought that slip other character's attention, including comments on Kim's own statements and behavior. However, such observations by Ron only serve to further give other characters the impression that he is odd and weird. These characteristics were particularly evident when Ron was younger; in later episodes, they are less prevalent, but still reasonably frequent. Ron also has a tendency to hold onto childhood habits and customs, often stubbornly refusing to change despite the negative reactions of others. For example, he goes out trick-or-treating at a time when most people his age would have long ceased. In the Season 4 episode "Grande Size Me", he does not appreciate that eating nothing but Bueno Nacho food would cause him to decline in health and physique. In "The Big Job", when Monique hints that he should get a job, he doesn't understand even when Monique tells him that he'd have "mad money." As is common for a fictional underdog, Ron has a tendency to have low expectations of his performance and to set low standards for himself, both academically and socially. He lacks focus and often appears to fare poorly due to either a lack of effort and a lack of belief in his own abilities or through trying too hard and coming across as a clown. His efforts to fit in are often hampered by the fact that he is moderately hyperactive and has a tendency to act with a pronounced level of immaturity, which has earned him a reputation as a loser among his peers. However, for the most part, Ron's type B personality means that he either does not notice this, and thus tends to embarrass those around him more than himself, or that he passes his quirks off as part of his intrinsic "Ronness" and ignores what others think. This was most evidenced when he was first introduced in the pilot episode "Crush", when he declared his motto to "Never be normal!". Though Ron appears to become accustomed to the idea that others see him as being uncool, and usually shrugs it off, he has been known to seek acceptance from peers on several occasions usually in an attempt to be noticed by girls with varying levels of success. Two notable occasions were when he attempted to reinvent himself during a spring break trip to Florida and when he tried out for school mascot as the "Middleton Mad Dog". In the case of the former, Ron was branded a loser within a day of arriving. In the case of the latter, Ron won the crowd's acceptance, but managed to upset the entire cheer squad in the process. On the occasions that Ron has achieved a level of acceptance from his peers, he usually revels in it, and sometimes allows it to go to his head. Though never directly stereotyped as being a dork/geek, he has been referred to as one on several occasions, and has many typical dork/geek traits. As evidenced by his love of "cult" computer games, his occasional fascination with the science fiction and fantasy genres, and by his ability to get along with Kim's geekish cousin, Larry. Ron's personality traits were most clearly demonstrated when his school was hit by a fictional personality-guide fad known as animology, under which he is classified as being a pink sloth: a socially inept outcast and follower, who smells of overripe fruit. This, in addition to his considerable largely trivial knowledge, combined with poor social skills, inability to understand euphemisms, refusal to accept change and tendency for fixating on things has led some fans to suggest he has Asperger syndrome. During the school career fair, Ron was drawn toward food service. Constant transformations Though not necessarily a personality trait, Ron's ability to get himself into situations where he was physically transformed seemed endless. It was even mocked in the episode "Grande Size Me", where Ron states to the audience the unpleasantness of being physically transformed. *In "Ron the Man", Ron is transformed into a Muscle Man through the use of a muscle enhancing ring, though this was deliberate on Ron's behalf. *In "Return to Camp Wannaweep", to combat the villainous Gill, Ron (although reluctantly) leapt into toxic waste and became a powerful man-beaver. *In "Grande Size Me", Ron is transformed into a large Hulk-like orange skinned man, this time against his will after falling into a tub where Jack Hench's Project Titan was being stored. In this episode, Ron defeated Gemini and arch foe Monkey Fist. This was the second time he defeated Monkey Fist one on one, but is largely ignored due to Ron's mutation. *In "Nursery Crimes", Ron is transformed into a baby against his will. *Though not necessarily a physical transformation, Ron is endowed with matter-destroying powers against his will in "Mathter and Fervant" by the Mathter. Contrast Despite usually being portrayed as being awkward, childish, distracted, and an underachiever, Ron's character has been shown to have hidden depths and abilities which the franchise occasionally explored as plot devices or MacGuffins. Among Ron's hidden talents are demonstrable creative and intellectual streaks. He wrote the song that Kim sung at the school talent contest and the "Naked Mole Rap", is a talented cook, and enjoys success in many craft-related activities, including constructing his own custom made Mad Dog head and even, trapping Gill with a net he made of lanyards, saying "Arts and Crafts is my element". He also often makes profound observations on life, society, and all kinds of logic that belie his normal portrayal as having an "uncomplicated mind", and he displayed all of the qualities needed to be rapidly promoted to a management position during his very short-lived career at the Middleton Bueno Nacho. He also has a lot of other talents, such as ventriloquism or dancing, as seen in the talent show. Although this might not count as a skill, he did invent the Naco, a nacho-taco hybrid. In addition to these talents, he sometimes undergoes periods of extreme focus or clarity, during which his personality, skills, and abilities undergo dramatic changes that allow him to perform feats that he is not usually depicted as being capable of performing. Most of these changes are in line with his role as a hero "who always comes through when the chips are down". They include: *'Bravery:' In "Sink or Swim" and "Return to Wannaweep" Ron was able to overcome his fears in order to take on the villain Gill singlehandedly. In "Exchange", Ron overcame both his sense of self-doubt and his fear of monkeys, in order to rescue Yori from Monkey Fist. In "Graduation", upon seeing Kim in mortal danger, as well as getting a pep talk from Sensei, Ron taps into the full extent of his Mystical Monkey Powers and takes on both Warhok and Warmonga all by himself and destroys them in an amazing display of sheer bravery and heroism. *'Agility and Sports:' In "Sick Day", Ron was able to master several different extreme sport related skills that he had previously been unable to master, in order to infiltrate Drakken's lair and escape with Ray X (suffering only a single trademark pants-related incident). In "The Twin Factor", Ron successfully evaded both Shego and a mind controlled Kim, even maneuvering himself so that the pair would cut his bonds, and in "Exchange" he easily defeated experienced Yamanouchi (山ノ内) ninja Fukushima in single combat. In "Ill Suited", Ron tried out for the Middleton High Football Team and it was discovered that his so-called "mad running away skills" made him a natural running back. In fact, he earned Middleton High's all-time rushing record by running the entire opposing team into exhaustion after just one play, which earned him the nickname "Unstoppable Stoppable". In "Big Bother", Ron protects his baby sister Hana by quickly dispatching a couple dozen of Monkey Fist's monkey ninjas, displaying impressive martial arts skills in the process, and manages to hold his own against Monkey Fist himself. In "Stop Team Go", while evil, Ron has shown amazing talent and skill while fighting an army of Wegos and quickly dispatching them. Yet another instance of these abilities appear in "The Fearless Ferret". As himself as the superhero, Ron foils the plot of White Stripe after the villain incapacitates Kim. In the episode parodying the original 60s Batman TV series, Ron becomes the apprentice of Timothy North (voiced by Adam West) who believes he is the character he has been playing. This was an homage to the setup for the animated series ; Will Friedle voiced both Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond and Ron. *'Communication with animals:' Ron has also demonstrated an uncanny ability to actually converse with and understand animals. Most often, this is seen in his interactions with Rufus, although it could be argued that Rufus is already, albeit unusually, communicative with others as well. He has, however, also shown that he can communicate very well with other animals: Chippy and Professor Dementor's giant dogs, to name a few. *'Flashes of inspiration/brilliance:' In "Sink or Swim", Ron used misdirection to lure Gill into a trap. In "Sick Day", he successfully charted a way into Drakken's lair that enabled him to avoid detection, and in "Bad Boy", he showed a high level of forethought in his world domination plans and technical/mechanical talent. In "Naked Genius" he was able to successfully build a "doomsday device" out of junk parts despite in the process of doing so being extremely insecure of himself and terrified by Drakken's threats. Perhaps the most pronounced of the changes/contrasts displayed by Ron was in "Bad Boy" when the stereotypical "mad scientist" elements of Drakken's personality were accidentally transferred into him, causing him to temporarily became a costumed "Mad scientist/Evil genius" type supervillain named Zorpox the Conqueror. As Zorpox, Ron created a series of increasingly sophisticated weapons, ranging from a mechanical device to fling mashed potatoes to an all terrain plasma catapult and a weather generator capable of instantly controlling the weather at a global scale. Although these changes and this depth appear regularly throughout the franchise, they do not appear in every episode, and are not always consistent between episodes; however, some reappearances have indeed been made, such as his evil alter-ego "Zorpox." Non-Judgmentalism: Ron has an unusual ability for a high school student of moving between different cliques and social groups without showing any undue prejudice of their various activities. Ron associates both with the most popular girls in school (Kim, Bonnie), as well as the most outcast nerds in Middleton (Larry, Ned). He accepts, and is accepted by people as diverse as Monique (Kim's fashion oriented friend), Wade (a super-genius shut-in), Zita (a Hispanic girl), Felix (a wheelchair-using genius), and of course Kim. He interacts with football players, roleplaying nerds, cheerleaders, geniuses, slackers, and everything in between on a regular basis, and never appears to judge them or their activities as being more or less worthy. He is not intimidated by supervillains who are theoretically smarter and/or more powerful than himself (although sometimes frightened, of course). He is baffled by Kim's insistence on buying her clothes at Club Banana, even though she can get exactly the same clothes at Smarty-Mart for a fraction of the cost (and Smarty-Mart and Club Banana are owned by the same company). In short, Ron moves through and among all different groups easily, allowing their occasional ridicule to (usually) roll off him. This ability gives Kim a useful reality check in certain situations. In an ironic twist of fate, Ron at the start and end of Season 4 has set up or "moved up the food chain" becoming the new star on the football team, realizing that he's the true mystic monkey master of kung-fu and was honestly elected homecoming king (suggesting that his peers have more developed respect and admiration for him than he believed). Powers and Abilities Abilities Culinary Expertise: Ron is a talented chef. It is one of his abilities that almost always remains at a consistently high level. While a sophomore in high school Ron created the wildly successful and popular Naco for Bueno Nacho. The Naco was so well received that within a short time, on the order of a week or less, he received enough money from its sales to buy Kim a jacket that would have cost two weeks' normal wages. Then during his junior year of high school Ron received a $99 million royalty payment on the further sales of the Naco up to that point in time. Ron's culinary talents even earned him the role of the home economics teacher during his sophomore year of high school. Which he used to transform the home economics's room into a "world class restaurant", according to Steven Barkin. His food was so good that Mr. Barkin put Ron in charge of food services for Middleton High School. His tenure was cut short though when the health inspector saw Rufus, a live rodent, serving food. The Ron Factor The Ron Factor is an intangible talent/element that Ron was hypothesized to possess. It supposedly allowed him to achieve results through a series of apparently random mishaps that would otherwise require great skill or an impossible amount of skill to accomplish. According to Wade, The Ron Factor may be a product of non-linear mathematical concepts (also known as Chaos Theory). Initially, Global Justice believed The Ron Factor was the secret to Kim Possible's success and they researched it heavily for a short period, hoping to be able to harness it themselves. However since they were unable to isolate it, GJ eventually concluded that it did not exist. Independently of the conclusion from GJ, the Ron Factor was later revisited as a plot element during the Kim Possible movie A Sitch in Time. Shego realized that Kim was most effective as an adversary when working side by side with Ron. She then hatched a plan to separate them, thus severely hampering Kim's ability to thwart her adversaries. This separation weakened Kim and Ron sufficiently enough for Shego to be able to take over the world. Mystical Monkey Power During the Season 1 episode "Monkey Fist Strikes", Ron was exposed to ancient magical energy from four jade monkey statues which imbued him with "Mystical Monkey Powers", including an instinctive knowledge of the martial art of "Tai Sheng Pek Kwar" (大圣劈挂, translates to "The big saint divides hangs") as well as superhuman speed and strength. It was initially implied that Ron lost these powers when the jade monkey statues were destroyed and they played no further part in Season 1 (even during other Monkey Fist related episodes). However, they were revisited half way through Season 2, during the episode "Exchange", when Ron was temporarily transferred to the Yamanouchi Ninja School in Japan. While at Yamanouchi, Ron was trained as a ninja and showed, in the final confrontation, great skill in Tai Sheng Pek Kwar, defeating the monkey ninjas almost instinctively. He displayed several "bursts" of monkey power throughout the episode but was unable to control them most of the time. He was also introduced to the Lotus Blade; a shape changing sword used by Toshimiru, the founder of the Yamanouchi ninja school, who was also a master of Tai Sheng Pek Kwar (a bit of a mistake on the part of the writers by setting it in Japan; Tai Sheng Pek Kwar is a Chinese martial art, not Japanese). Although Ron was shown to be able to control the blade, his usual clumsiness was still shown as well as several comical moments such as losing his clothes when successfully calling the blade to him. In addition, Ron defeated traitorous Yamanouchi student Fukushima by kicking the ground with his foot, thus causing a small earthquake that made icicles fall and trap his foe. Considering it showed everything blue, Ron's hair and gi waving, blue shadows under Ron's eyes, and rocks levitating around him at the time, Ron most likely did this with his Mystical Monkey Powers. In a separate incident, Ron was prophesied to be "The Ultimate Monkey Master." In A Sitch in Time, he singlehandedly defeated a super-strong Drakken and destroyed the Time Monkey by causing a series of pillars to topple like dominoes. Considering that Kim could not defeat the genetically-enhanced Drakken on her own, his great anger at that time (from learning that it was because of Shego that he was separated from Kim by moving to Norway and why he's been eating meat cakes.) likely caused him to tap into his Mystical Monkey Powers and use his superstrength from that to defeat Drakken and Shego. After "Exchange", Ron's monkey powers were not explicitly shown again for a while. The show even made a self-referential comment about this; during a fight, Ron's opponent is surprised by his terrible performance, believing Ron is supposed to possess some sort of mystical superpower. Ron sheepishly replies that "it comes and it goes, y'know." Ron's Monkey powers are more regular and more reliable in the franchises game adaptations, including Team Possible, where Ron gains access to monkey power after defeating Monkey Fist. The Mystical Monkey Power storyline picked up again in "Oh No! Yono!", with the revelation of the back story of Hana Stoppable and the final encounter between Ron and Monkey Fist. During the final two-part episode, "Graduation", Ron's Mystical Monkey Powers sprung into a very powerful being when he singlehandedly confronted, fought, and defeated the nine foot tall alien duo of Warmonga and Warhok, with no help from Kim or Rufus. After Warhok made the very serious mistake of threatening Kim's life in Ron's presence, Sensei appeared to encourage him to summon his Mystical Monkey Powers. He revealed that Ron is the Ultimate Monkey Master (ironic for someone who once had such an extreme fear of monkeys) and that this (presumably being the Ultimate Monkey Master) is his destiny that he is now ready for. With Kim unconscious, her life being threatened, and no chance of anyone else saving the day, Ron consciously tapped into his Mystical Monkey Powers, another indication that Ron's failures and clumsiness stem more from his insecurities and self-doubt than lack of ability, and that he would prove much more capable if he was able to work past them. Upon its manifestation, Ron's strength was superhuman. He was seen to grab both aliens by their wrists and launch them well over half a mile into the air, before they impacted with their crashing spaceship, presumably destroying them. Needless to say, this surprised those around him, including Kim, Shego, and Rufus. This action caused Kim, for the first time in the series (and the last, given that it was the final episode), to be lost for speech. Even Shego was completely impressed, saying that it looked like Ron "stepped up, monkey style." This was the first time in the series that Ron had complete control over his powers and he can now presumably access them whenever he wants. Evil and/or Supervillainy In the Season 3 episode, "Bad Boy," Kim and Ron infiltrate the Supervillain Trade Show dressed in costumes provided by Wade of his favorite comic book villains. Ron's identity is Zorpox the Conqueror, a name he never used once turned evil. During a fight with Drakken and Shego, a mind-altering device known as the "Attitudinator," is broken and malfunctions, transferring all of Drakken's evil into Ron's mind. Initially, Ron was unaware of what had happened. But as the next day progressed, Ron's personality became steadily more "evil," from starting a food fight in the school cafeteria to converting his old tricycle into a super weapon to attack his bratty cousin Shawn at a family wedding. During this latter act, he re-dons the Zorpox costume, adapts his trademark exclamation, "boo-yah," into an evil laugh, and regards Kim as his enemy, rather than his friend. Another sign of his evil personality is that his skin turns blue like Drakken's. To everyone's amazement, Ron turns out to be a natural at supervillainy, creating several cutting-edge superweapons, and also using much of the technology in Drakken's lair more effectively than Drakken ever has. Shego is so impressed - "who knew the buffoon was a natural?" - that she abandons Drakken and becomes Ron's new sidekick. When Ron reveals that he has found a shield in Drakken's things that protects him from Shego's powers if she gets angry, and threatened to dump her in with sharks, Shego actually backed down. Something she rarely did with Drakken. With the transformation complete, Ron made a double play for world domination. Using one villainous scheme as a decoy in order to prevent Kim from interfering with his true plan, he attempted to disrupt the world's weather in an effort to force the global community to surrender its supply of "nacos." Evil Ron was eventually stopped by Drakken, at the time freed of his dark side, who placed a newly repaired "Attitudinator" on Ron's head, restoring both of them to their original selves once more. Something Good Drakken realized he had a responsibility to do because, "it's better that I'm bad than if he's bad." Ron's villainous alter ego did not surface again during Season 3. However, the "Zorpox" personality makes a brief reappearance in "Stop Team Go", again under the influence of the Attitudinator, where he proceeded to battle the likewise temporarily-evil Team Go, showing amazing martial arts abilities while defeating a small army of Wegos, and helping to defeat Electronique. It is possible that while evil, Ron has access to more of his suppressed abilities, and may be able to consciously use the Mystical Monkey Powers due to his overconfidence while evil. Evil Ron is one of several hints dropped during the show's run that his constant bumbling and failures stem less from actual incompetence and clumsiness than from his lack of focus and, more importantly, his lack of confidence. Since Drakken seemed to retain his mad scientist inventing and engineering skills when his evil was transferred to Ron, Ron may possess untapped potential as an engineer and inventor himself. An example of this is in the episode "Naked Genius" when Ron is kidnapped and forced to make a functioning doomsday device out of everyday equipment, however, the fact that Ron is amazed that the device actually works indicates than Ron did not consciously design or build it to be so, suggesting it may simply be a "fluke," or another expression of the non-factor "Ron Factor." Awareness of the Fourth Wall In the end credits scene of the Season 4 episode "Grande Size Me", Ron is in Middleton High's hallway as he speaks to the audience, whom he refers to as "kids", "to get serious about an important subject: short-term genetic mutation." Other characters, including Kim, Monique, and Mr. Barkin, appear in the hallway as he talks, wondering aloud who he is talking to. After Ron finishes with a summary of "Keep your DNA intact and stay un-mutated. You'll be glad you did!", Barkin closes the episode saying "Stoppable! Office, now!" It is uncertain whether Rufus's concurring remarks during this speech confirm his awareness of the fourth wall or if they were only to try and encourage Ron in whatever he was doing, as is often seen throughout the show. Religion As a Jew, Ron is the only Kim Possible character whose religious background is specifically mentioned in the series. This is handled in a similar way to that of fellow fictional Jew Willow Rosenberg - it forms part of his character's background and mannerisms, but is not an issue addressed directly by the series. As such, Ron does not openly partake in religious activities or discuss his religion on screen. Instead, his background is usually referenced through stereotypes and cultural references associated with Judaism in the modern United States—for example, requesting kosher meals in the school cafeteria, despite not keeping kosher in other aspects of his diet. In the episode Big Bother, during breakfast, he asked for bacon, despite pork not being a kosher meat. Likewise, in Homecoming Upset, he is seen eating a slice of pepperoni pizza. As of the end of Season 3, the only time that his background was referenced directly was during Season 1, when teacher Steve Barkin noticed that Ron's rabbi, Rabbi Katz, had given him a Bar Mitzvah certificate but had forgotten to sign it. Afterwards, he is seen consulting with a rabbi and makes several references to different aspects of Jewish culture. However, the reference primarily serves as a MacGuffin designed to lead up to a subplot which explored traditional teenage insecurities. After Barkin's discovery, Ron is sent into a spiral of self-doubt and resorts to using technology from supervillain supplier Jack Hench to give himself huge muscles, before discovering that manhood comes from within, not from what you look like on the outside or from a piece of paper (which Rabbi Katz eventually signs). This experience suggests that Ron is not particularly devoted to or knowledgeable about Judaism, since a boy has a Bar Mitzvah and becomes a man on his thirteenth birthday, signed certificate or not. The certificate and the ceremony are just formalities. Despite his upbringing, Ron is an active participant in the secular aspects of Christmas, which he usually spends with the Possible Family. Ron's Jewish heritage was not prominently featured in any storyline during Season 4. History Ron is an only natural child from an observant Jewish family (see religion). He met Kim during their first day at preschool and they have been firm friends ever since. Ron's father eventually moves the family to Norway, and then to the Moon. In the TV movie A Stitch in Time, Ron is depicted as having been an articulate, observant child able to comprehend concepts too complex for the average child of his age, as having an imaginary friend named "Rufus", and as having a strong social conscience but also underdeveloped social skills which set him apart from other children. As a teenager, he has a pet naked mole rat named Rufus and has slept with a nightlight since the age of four. Many aspects of Ron's current personality can be traced back to various traumatic events from his childhood that have been shown in a variety of flashbacks throughout Seasons 1-3. The event which is referenced most often in the series was a summer that he spent in a rundown Summer camp named Camp Wannaweep, during which time he called home so many times asking to leave the camp that his mother eventually refused to accept his calls. While at Wannaweep, Ron was bullied by other campers and forced to share an insect-infested cabin with the camp's overactive chimpanzee mascot "Bobo". This led him to develop a pathological fear of monkeys and apes that has been frequently mentioned throughout the series, as well as a less-mentioned fear of insects and spiders. It was also during this summer at Wannaweep that Ron first encountered fellow camper Gil Moss, with whom he traded his slot on the swim schedule for a second slot in arts and crafts. Gil later returned as Gill, a villain seeking revenge on Ron, whom he blamed for causing him to mutate as a result of his spending all day swimming in the lake's polluted water. During Season 2, it was revealed that Ron was first introduced to the freelance hero business when reclusive Upperton millionaire Mr. Paisley became trapped in his own vault. His associate, Mr. McHenry, attempted to contact "Team Impossible", a group of heroes-for-hire, but accidentally contacted Kim Possible instead. Based on the period in which Kim wore braces, this event took place about 2 years before the events of the series. Ron's feelings for Kim have been addressed several times during Seasons 1-3, most notably when Kim came under the influence of a mood-altering device that caused her to pursue him romantically, and were finally resolved during the last installment of the Season 3 finale, originally intended to be the final episode of the franchise. As of Season 4, he and Kim are officially a couple. Senior year also sees Ron join the high school football team as its star running back, using the running and dodging skills he honed as Kim's sidekick. It is speculated from the episode "Big Bother" that Ron is 18 years old, but that is not confirmed. Ron's status as an only child ended during Season 4, when his parents adopted a baby girl from Japan named Hana. At first, the change angered Ron, calling Hana an "intruder" and evil. Eventually, he starts to love Hana, and learns to be a big brother. In "Graduation", the two-part series finale, Ron truly stepped up and became the hero by single-handedly saving Kim, as well as the entire world. After Kim and Shego were knocked out by the menacing alien Warhok, Ron was the only one left to fight and was unsure of what to do. Sensei appeared to encourage Ron to summon his Mystical Monkey Powers, telling him that he is the Monkey Master and that this was his destiny. With Kim's very life on the line, Ron was finally given the motivation he needed to step up, and in an incredible show of bravery and sheer power, he single-handedly takes on both Warhok and his battle mate Warmonga and apparently destroys them. Disney Parks Ron, along with Kim, appeared at the Disney's Hollywood Studios park as walk-around characters on the Streets of America. He also starred in the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure game at Epcot guiding guests on their missions through Kimmunicators while they travel around the lagoon, before it closed in 2012. Relationships Gallery Trivia *Ron's name is a play on the word "unstoppable". *While attitudinated to evil, no one—not even Evil Ron himself—called him "Zorpox". *Even though Ron's voice actor provided voices for both his young and adult stages, only his adult voice remains in one of the movies, and his young voice is for another voice actor. *Ron is the only Kim Possible character known to have broken the fourth wall. 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